The Girls Next Door
by pffffffffffffff
Summary: The Fabray twin sisters' relationship had never been threatened over the 17 years of their existence, not until she showed up. Quinn/Rachel/Charlie. Fafaberry.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **The Girls Next Door

**Summary: **The Fabray twin sister's relationship had never been threatened over the 17 years of their existence, not until _she_ showed up. Quinn/Rachel/Charlie. Fafaberry.

**Disclaimer: **The usual bla bla bla, the characters don't belong to me.

**Note: **I came across the idea for this story by being a dedicated follower of _textsfromcharlie _on tumblr_. _It's great, go and check it out.

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><p>Everyone knew that despite the fact that the Fabray twins were physically identic, they had few in common. When their mother forced both of them to dress with equal outfits for special occasions such as weddings, they were indistinguishable, but only until one of them opened their mouth. If what came out was a complaint about how skinny ties should never have returned to the land of the living, then that would be Quinn. If what came out was more like an impressed comment about the architecture of the place, then that would most definitely be Charlotte, also known as Charlie.<p>

Their differences started being evident early on: Quinn was always the one with the bad temper, moping around constantly and being, well, a little brat, while Charlie was the quiet, shy, almost anti-social one. They had grown up and those differences grew with them; Quinn learned how to turn her bad temper into indifference and Charlie wasn't as reserved as she used to be, but she still pretty much lived in her own world.

It was also evident for anyone that knew both of them, or had spent any time around them, that Quinn loved her socially awkward, sweet twin and Charlie admired her driven, fearless, ice queen sister.

They were each other's best friends, without any question, even though they didn't really share the same circle of friends at school. Quinn had always shown interest and ability for physical activities, so she had made herself a cheerleader and hanged out with the most popular group of people at McKinley while Charlie, with her kind of geeky interests had a very eclectic group of friends who, needless to say, shared her low social status in school. Despite of that, there was no one who would dare to make fun of Charlie – although her friends were usual victims of slushies – because Quinn would take matters into her own hands and commit social homicide if so.

All and all, despite their differences, Quinn and Charlie loved each other and nothing had ever even come close to threatening their relationship, that is, until _she_ appeared.

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><p>It was a sunny day of Spring, one of those that make you sweat just by thinking how Summer is going to be like; the type of day where you want to do nothing but lie by the pool and anticipate the cool night. That was what Charlie Fabray was doing, thinking of the much expected Harry Potter marathon she had planned with Mike after dinner.<p>

"Charlotte Fabray, I swear, if you don't get out of your lazy ass you are going to become _fat. _Just think of what the family would say! A Fabray, _fat?_" Quinn was obviously joking, but Charlotte rolled her eyes imagining if she was indeed heavy and, because of that, even more the black sheep of the family than she already was. "You'd be the disgrace of the family! Mom and Dad would disown you. With good reason. Think about me, what would people say when they got to know that I have a _fat_ twin? My popularity would come crashing down, everything I ever worked for-"

"I don't want to move, _and_ stop talking as if being fat is the worst possible thing that could happen to someone. There are far worst things-"

"Whatever, Char, just come with me. I don't want to go by myself" Quinn shifted her weight from one leg to the other, impatiently, hands on her hips. She was already equipped with her working out outfit: thigh black leggings, a grey sports' bra and Nike sneakers. "Please?"

It was a rare occasion to hear Quinn Fabray asking for something using the word _please. _She usually just demanded things and everyone was too afraid not to bend to her will. But not Charlotte and, 17 (almost 18) years of cohabitation, had taught Quinn that, if she wanted something from her sister, that was usually the only way to get it.

"Quinn, it's so hot, I don't want to go running" Charlie wined miserably, as if her sister was practically forcing her a new, but effective, type of torture.

"Just around the block, twice. We're barely going to sweat anything" Quinn assured her, using her best manipulating things. There were some things that Quinn was good at, like a split on air, or how to get every guy on the bleaches on a football game not pay any attention to the game at all, but they really weren't that useful in her day-to-day life. But persuasion, it was her main weapon and the one she was most proud of.

"Quinn, I'm here lying down like a vegetable and I'm sweating".

"Come on" Quinn repeated, once again, impatiently, changing strategies. "I saw you devouring that box of ice cream last night, don't even try to deny it. Do you know how many calories that was?"

Charlie opened her eyes. Although she would never admit it, especially to her sister, she was trying to eat carefully. She knew that her physical activity ratio was close to inexistent and that, although she was now blessed with good genetics and metabolism, in the future, if she kept eating and sitting on her ass all day, she was not going to maintain her figure. The box of ice cream last night had been a slip up.

"Okay" Charlie sighed, as she pulled herself to her feet lazily. "But only twice around the block, then I'm going back to my vegetable state".

"As long as you still have that" Quinn joked, triumphantly. Charlie stopped in front of her and, for a moment, both of them glared each other expectantly.

"So?" Charlie asked.

"Aren't you going to put on training clothes?" Quinn asked, frowning slightly at what Charlie was wearing. Charlotte was a big fan of comfortable clothing around the house. She was wearing shorts and a tank top.

"What, this won't do?" her twin asked gesturing her clothes.

Quinn decided not to be picky. "Well, I guess- okay, let's just go".

Together, running down the street, they made an odd pairing: Quinn dressed sportively and Charlie dressed casually. But everyone in the neighborhood was already accustomed to their oddness as a pair of twins…

Well, everyone that had met them.

They slowed down the pace as they turned around the corner and saw a moving truck parked in front of the lawn of the ex-Gunter's house.

"New neighbors" Quinn stated, as they both curiously walked across the road to get a sight of the new family. The neighborhood was known for being kind of a big family; they had barbeques in the summers, went on vacations together, had tea in each other's house all the time. Whoever that family was, it was going to be inserted in their social life, so they better just meet them now and see what they were stuck with.

The moving crew was getting the heavier stuff from the truck to the house, but there was also a black SUV and a more modest old Toyota Civic filled with the family belongings so the twins figured that was where they would find them.

They were just approaching the set of cars, when a short man with glasses got out of the car, slightly flushed either from the heat or the physical effort, holding two boxes, one pilled over the other.

"Hi" Charlie greeted. The man's face was hidden behind the boxes, and he had to maneuver himself in order to see who was approaching him.

It was rather amusing when the tiny man finally glared them, his dark eyes dancing between the two girls, trying to understand if he was indeed seeing right or having a delirious attack from the heat.

"My name is Quinn Fabray, this is my sister Charlie. We live around the corner".

"Oh, so you're going to be our new neighbors!" the man cried enthusiastically, with a tone that lacked muscularity, and got both girls to exchange glares, now composed from the initial shock of seeing two living clones. "Leroy, Rachel, come here, darlings" the man called over his shoulder, as he put down the boxes and offered his hand to both Charlie and Quinn. His handshake, though, was surprisingly strong. "I'm Hiram Berry, we're just moving in." He said, as a tall, dark man joined him, his hand falling on his shoulder in an affectionate, yet suggestive way. "This is my husband Leroy and…well, our daughter Rachel is supposed to be here somewhere, I think we've might have misplaced her again…"

"I'm here daddy" the feminine voice came from the front door, and everyone's heads snapped in that direction in time to watch a short brunette girl frolicking from inside the house enthusiastically. "I just saw my new room. Oh my God, it's huge, and I have a private bathroom. Can you believe it?"

"Look, sweetie, we're meeting our first neighbors" Snapping her head to Charlie and Quinn, only at that moment Rachel seemed to notice their presence. "This is Charlie and Quinn Fabray, they live on the neighborhood as well".

"Actually, I'm Charlie and she's Quinn" Charlotte corrected kindly, the first one of the sisters to recover from the initial shock of meeting such a, hum, modern family.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. Anyway, this is our prodigy daughter, Rachel".

"Daddy" Rachel blushed, as she nudge her father's arm embarrassedly.

"How old are you, Rachel?" Charlie asked, anxious to get a conversation going. She could feel the tension coming from her sister by her side. Granted, they lived in a small town in Ohio, it wasn't every day that they met a family like the Berry's, but Quinn seemed to find it a much bigger deal than Charlotte. Charlie didn't want the Berry's to feel unwelcomed immediately.

She had to admit, though, it was a bold step of them to make. They had moved into a conservative, little town where there weren't that many opened minded people. The Berry's were in for a challenge, that was for sure.

"I'm seventeen, going on eighteen, actually" Rachel replied with an huge, almost too big to be honest, smile, and both girls had the impression that she was going to start singing the _The Sound of Music_ song.

"Oh, then you are of our age. You're going to go to McKinley, right?"

"Is there-" Rachel seemed hesitant. "any other High School?".

Charlie laughed. True. "No, actually, that's the one. We both go there, so, maybe, we can show you around?"

"That would be really nice of you" Rachel's eyes drifted to Quinn, who had yet to say a word.

"Well, we should continue carrying our things inside, girls" Leroy stated. "It was nice to meet you two." Him and Hiram retrieved from the little circle that they, unintentionally, had created, and left the girls standing there, without really knowing what to do.

"I should go, too, I still have to get my stereo system to my room which is on the last floor…" Rachel cringed, just thinking about the physical effort.

Quinn and Charlie knew exactly where Rachel room's was, because that house, previously, had belonged to Madeline Gunter and they had spent many afternoon's there. Charlie saw an opportunity and took it, immediately. "Well, I can help you with that. It must be heavy. Plus, I can install it for you so that you have music while you are unpacking".

"Are you sure? You don't have anything else you should do?" Rachel asked hesitantly, glaring Quinn's obvious training outfit. The girl refused to return her glare, but her twin was expressive enough for the two of them.

Charlie smirked maliciously, while also glaring her sister from the corner of her eye. "No, at all. Hey, it's physical exercise, right?".

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><p>"I can't believe you own every Broadway musical soundtrack that ever existed" Charlie commented impressively, as she rummaged through Rachel's things. She had called it, definitely. Something about Rachel's energy just screamed… geek. Which is a good thing, because Charlie was also a proud geek.<p>

They had gone up to Rachel's room, Quinn always following closely behind them, looking uncomfortable and like she really rather be somewhere else, and Charlie had taken upon her hands to install Rachel's stereo. She had always had a hand for technology, she was the go to girl around the house when something was not functioning. _Char, my straightening iron isn't working_ or _Charlie, the washing machine isn't working _or _Charlotte, my watch isn't working._

Quinn had helped her out unenthusiastically and the bubbly brunette appeared and reappeared with new boxes that were divided according to function.

Charlie maintained easy conversation with Rachel, it was obvious the two had much alike. Quinn felt like the third wheel just sitting there, answering "yes" or "no" every time either Rachel or Charlie asked her something.

Eventually, the twins had to leave for dinner – Rachel and her dads still had a lot of work ahead, but Hiram made a point to let them know that if they were already settled in, they would have invited them for dinner, obviously – and it was on their way to their house that Quinn spoke her first sentence in almost two hours.

"Dad is going to be pissed".

"What are you talking about?" Charlotte asked absentmindedly, as she kicked a rock from the sidewalk to the road.

"Rachel's dads. Dad's not going to like it".

Charlie knew this was true, and she wondered how long was it going to take for the neighborhood to call an emergency reunion because of the _situation. _It was all very ridiculous to her eyes, but she knew they were capable of it. She remembered when Kurt had come out. You'd think that he had come out as a fire starter from the panic that he created. "Well, there's really nothing he can do about it. They're queer, they're here, he better just get used to it".

Quinn snorted. "Right, you know who we're talking about, right? Russell Fabray? He's probably going to try to pray the gay out of them."

"Are you?" Charlie asked, bluntly.

"What?"

"Uncomfortable with Rachel's dads?"

Quinn frowned. "Are you asking me if I'm a homophobe?" Charlie didn't give her an answer, but it was pretty clear to Quinn what it was. "I'm not. But… you have to admit, it's pretty… weird. I mean, I'd only seen it in, like, TV. This is the real deal".

"Guess so" Charlie commented vaguely.

Quinn regarded her twin with a slightly disconcerted expression. "You don't find it, at least a little bit, weird?"

"No".

"Come on, it's not something you see every day" Quinn insisted, rolling her eyes.

"Rachel seems like a nice girl and I don't think that having two gay dads will make any difference-"

"I'm not saying that Rachel is not nice, or that I won't want to hang out with her because she has two gay dads, I'm just saying that I'm not used to it and it might be weird for me at first".

"Okay, then. And I'm saying I don't share those feelings. Hiram and Leroy seemed delightful and they were far more accommodating than some _straight_ parents I've met."

"Yeah, they were nice" Quinn commented thoughtfully. "I just hope people don't give them a hard time, though".

Charlie nodded in agreement, even though both girls knew that there was really no way out of it. They just hoped for the best for the Berry family.

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><p><em>Flashforward<em>

**Remember when we met her? – C **

Of course – Q

**You were uncomfortable about the fact that the Berry's were gay – C**

Yeah, ironic, right? – Q

**To say the least. What would have done if you knew she was going to turn you gay? – C**

I would have run for my life, probably – Q


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to anyone who read and/or reviewed. In this chapter Charlie/Rachel mainly.**

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><p>The girls had a week until Spring Break ended and they had to get back to McKinley. Being the kind heart that Charlie was, she volunteered to show Rachel around and keep her company, knowing from personal experience – they all had moved down to Lima when Quinn and her were 12 years old – what was like to know no one in a brand new town. Specially one as small as Lime, where everyone knew each other and groups were formed since kindergarten.<p>

Quinn, though, was too busy with her social schedule to join them on any of their plans, so Rachel and Charlie started becoming a duo. At first, Charlie joined Rachel at her house and helped her unpack and settle in. Then, progressively, as Rachel's house started to look more and more like a home, Rachel would come to the Fabray's to watch movies, or for Charlie's favorite activity: lazing around the pool.

Rachel was growing on Charlie. Being with her was not a charity case for her, it was a pleasure. After only two days, the girl could tell that she and Rachel were going to be very good friends.

And so, she felt it was time to take the next step of their relationship, and that was introducing her to the rest of her friends. They were a thigh group; a group of people that, because they were slightly different from norm, were constituted misfits and had grouped up to survive Lima.

They were: Mike Chang, the Asian boy that managed to be a football player, a dancer, and a major geek all at once; Artie Abrams, the white rapper, spontaneous pervy commenter, video game nerd on a wheelchair; Kurt Hummel who didn't like video games, comic books, sci-fi movies, but he French braided the girl's hair for fun; Mercedes Jones, the eternally single diva and Tina Cohen-Chang, the stuttering Goth girl.

They were a little apprehensive at first about taking in a stranger, but Charlie was sure that once they met her, Rachel's charm would win everyone over, she had that ability. She was a little chameleon, that one. She could dance with Mike, play video games with Artie, talk about Barbra Streisand and such with Kurt, talk about drama and soul music and singing with Mercedes, discuss vampire books with Tina.

So she took Rachel to Mike's video game tournament extravaganza; time: from 2 pm until you could no longer keep your eyes open, place: his room, prize: the title of king/queen of the geeks, consolation prize: all you can eat candies.

From the moment she had stepped in the room, Charlie could actually feel Rachel's charm working. By the end of the afternoon, everyone was Rachel's best friend and already shared private jokes with her. It also helped that she was actually a fierce competitor on the tournament, finally being eliminated by Mike on the half-finals.

All in all, Rachel was approved into the group and became a regular on their geeky afternoons.

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><p>"Ugh".<p>

Charlie raised her head to look at the girl sprawled on her bed next to her, in a very similar position to the one she was at. "What's wrong?" she asked amusedly.

"It's ten pm already" Rachel pointed out, her face still pressed onto Charlie's matress. "My dads will start worrying soon".

"You have to go?" the disappointment in Charlie's voice wasn't intentional, but obvious. Rachel nodded, although making no move to rise. Charlie grinned, because she could relate to the girl's laziness.

"I should, yeah. I have to wake up early to go buy school things tomorrow. Can you believe we only have three other days of Spring Break left?"

"Tell me about it. I'm _not _looking forward to get back to McKinley".

Rachel giggled, rolling around and staring at the room's ceiling. "That bad, uh?"

"Well, it isn't… horrible, but there are more than a few people that I could live happy ever after if I never had to deal with them again".

"And who would that be?"

Charlie closed her eyes as she thought. "Well, mainly, the jocks. Not every one, you've met Mike, but his hardly the definition jock. Finn's alright, too, he's Quinn's boyfriend…"

"Quinn has a boyfriend?" Rachel asks curiously, rolling over so that she was facing Charlie.

Charlie grimaced. "Not really, he's just… a guy. He likes her, but I don't think she does. They go out, some times, but nothing has happened between them. So far, at least" Charlie explained. She paused, before continuing. "Then there's the cheerleaders. Obviously, Quinn is fine, and Santana… well, she's also kind of a bitch, but at least she admits it. She's okay. Or maybe it's that I got used to her? I don't know. She annoys me a lot, but it's not in a mean way."

"On my last school, there wasn't really that notion of popular kids and unpopular kids…"

"Oh, so you're in for a treat with McKinley" Charlie chuckled sardonically. "But don't worry, we'll have your back. It's good thing that I met you before school, I'll teach you what to do and not to do to stay under the radar from all the bullies and bad intentioned people".

"Charlie?" Rachel called, after a moment of silence.

Charlotte turned her head to face Rachel. "Hm?"

"I'm glad I met you. And not just because you can help me make a smooth entrance in McKinley".

Charlie felt a strange tug at her stomach, as she glared Rachel in the eye and smile back. "I'm glad I met you too".

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><p>It wasn't unusual for Quinn to go up to Charlie's room to tell her something and find someone else in there; Charlie had a way to smuggle people inside the house without anyone noticing it. Quinn suspected that she did it because she didn't want their father to know that certain people were there (like Kurt). But that afternoon, when Quinn was about to go out to meet Santana at the local mall, she was surprised to find that there was some kind of party going on inside Charlie's room, judging by the amount of people that were there.<p>

The whole geek patrol was in there, Rachel - Quinn suspected that she was their new addition - included. At first, when they started being Charlie's friends, Quinn always did some sort of impact when she appeared – she was, after all, the most popular girl in school – but now everyone just seemed to get used to her and they almost ignored her. It was a weird feeling for Quinn.

"I'm going out, tell mom I'll be in for dinner, okay?" Quinn said to Charlie, as everyone else continued whatever it was that they had been doing. Charlie nodded nonchalantly, before dropping her eyes back to the magazine she was sharing with Rachel.

"Hi, Quinn" Rachel greeted, offering her a smile, making her hazel eyes drift to her as if only now noticing she was sitting right next to her sister, against the bedhead.

"Hi, Rachel" Quinn replied, expressionless. "So, bye, I'm late and Santana is going to kill me".

"Bye, Quinn".

"Bye, Rachel".

Quinn closed the door behind her and Rachel stared at it for a moment, before turning to Charlie. "I think you're sister doesn't like me" she said in a slightly regretful, slightly amused tone.

Charlie shook her head dismissively. "Silly, what makes you say that?"

"Just… you know, she doesn't talk to me ever; every time I try to pull conversation with her she gives me monosyllabically answers before finding an excuse to walk away".

"Oh, don't take that personally. She's like that to the people that she doesn't know… I mean, unless you're one of those headless cheerleading clones, she's kind of closed off… you'll warm up to her, don't worry. You just have to keep trying. She's really nice usually, you know?"

"I don't doubt it. She's always been perfectly nice to me, just… nothing more than that. Oh, well" Rachel chuckled, gesturing dismissively.

Charlie glared Rachel attentively. Although Rachel was speaking in a humorous way, she could see behind it and that the brunette was, actually, somehow, upset by the way Quinn was around her. Charlie sighed. "I'll talk to her".

"No, no, that's not what I wanted!" Rachel immediately reacted, her eyes widening. "I didn't mean it like that, I was just saying…"

"Well, give her time, okay? She's just… Quinn. She's very special."

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><p>"Rachel thinks you don't like her".<p>

Quinn cocked a brow with a puzzled expression at the sudden and unexpected change of subject, her eyes still glued onto the TV screen as she zapped. "Why would she think that? I barely ever talked to her".

"That's kind of the reason, I guess" Charlie shrugged nonchalantly.

They were home alone at night; their parents had gone out to dinner. That meant it was movies night for them, and also meant they were going to have their weekly fight of: thriller against sci-fi.

"Where is she, anyway?" Quinn asked, because she would think that Charlie would have invited Rachel over. It seemed like every free time Charlie got, she was with Rachel. Quinn would be lying if she said she didn't feel a little jealous because of that. She just hadn't spend much time with Charlie lately. Her sister shrugged. "You don't know?"

"This is our night" Charlie said, simply.

Quinn repressed a smile, as she glared the television. She was obviously Charlie's twin and they had a connection that went beyond anything else, but it was still nice to hear things like that and confirm that Charlie wasn't going anywhere, that Quinn still mattered the most.

"Well, I don't want her to think I don't like her, because that's not true."

"Why don't you try saying something nice to her next time you see her? Just something beyond _hi._ Just so that she doesn't feel uncomfortable about coming here because she thinks you don't like her being around".

Quinn chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip. "I guess I could do that".

* * *

><p>"Can I?" Quinn asked, as she gently pushed the door of her twin's room open. Charlie and Rachel were lying over the bed, doing God knows what they always did on that room. On that way, Quinn could understand why Charlie related so much to the brunette; Quinn was very outgoing and she wasn't a big fan of just lazing around. Rachel seemed to be perfectly fine with it and she provided Charlie company on that activity. "Mom's calling you. She wants to know where you put her earrings".<p>

With a quick jump to her feet, Charlie was out the door and leaving Rachel and Quinn alone.

Quinn hesitated. Rachel was staring at her intensily, and she didn't quite know what she wanted from her. She decided she should put Charlie's advice to use and actually show Rachel that she didn't dislike her or anything. She and Charlie were good friends, and Quinn didn't want to stand in the way of it. "Hey Rachel".

"Hi, Quinn".

_Well, here it goes. _She wasn't one to think clearly under pressure, so the best she could do was. "I like your shirt".

Rachel's expression opened in a genuine, touched smile, as she looked down as if to make sure Quinn was really talking about _her_ shirt. "Really? My dad, Leroy, gave it to me. He and Hiram got into a fight because Hiram didn't think it would fit me and then Leroy implied that Hiram didn't know me as well as him and, of course, Hiram went ballistic and that lead to an immense and horrid fight which resulted in Leroy sleeping on the couch for three days and, of course, my dad-" Rachel started yapping without even realizing it and she only understood what she was doing when she noticed the overwhelmed expression on Quinn's face. Her lips were parted, her eyes were slightly wide while her brow was scrunched; she seemed completely horrified about the amount of words coming out of the short brunette's mouth. Rachel blushed intensely and dropped her eyes. It was the closest thing to a conversation that Quinn had ever participated with her, and she was probably making her regret it. "I guess what I was trying to say was _thank you_".

Quinn nodded shortly, before turning around and leaving the room and that was, coicidently, the last time Rachel saw her that day. She figured she scared her away. _Oh, well._

To that occasion, some others followed. It was always when Rachel was up in Charlie's room and Quinn had to go there for some reason. Basically, things went like this:

"Charlie, do you have that CD that you stole from me? Yes, I know you have it. Hey, Rachel, your hair looks nice today".

And:

"Dad wants help with the DVD and God knows I know nothing about it. Hi, Rachel, I like your shoes".

And.

"Charlie, I don't know whether to wear my orange dress or my yellow? Oh, hi, Rachel, I-" a quick glance at Rachel's reindeer sweater and Quinn knew she couldn't lie. "don't hate your sweater."

It was a lame attempt, but it got Rachel to smile, just like every other time, and, because of that, Quinn considered a mission accomplished. _See, Quinn Fabray could do nice._

* * *

><p><em>Peace. Quiet. Sun. <em>

_Splash_!

Quinn opened her eyes in horror, yelping, the cold water of the pool against her warm skin provoking a feeling that she could only imagine it was close to a panic attack. Charlie came to the surface, a smug smirk on her lips, as she swam in direction to the air mattress Quinn was floating on.

"You're a brat, you know that, right?" Quinn told her, her heart still beating out of her chest. She had been almost asleep before her sister had came out of nowhere.

Charlie simply laughed in response, shaking her head. "I have something to ask you".

"Ah, so know you want something from me, you terrorist" Quinn closed her eyes and settled her head back on the mattress, cherishing the feeling of the sun hitting her. She didn't care how much the other people complained; a heat wave is always a blessing. "You just ruined my hair" She added.

"God, doesn't it ever gets tiring being obsessed with your looks?"

"If I were you, sweetie, I'd be careful about what you say, remember you were trying to ask me for something?" Quinn teased with a malicious smile, her eyes still closed.

"You're right, Quinn, you do know you were always the prettier one of the two of us, right?" Charlie joked.

"Hmmm" Quinn muttered simply, implying that that wasn't enough ass-kissing for her, but she would settle for it, this time. "What is it that you want?"

"Well, as you might be aware, tomorrow is our first day of school-"

"Noooo!" Quinn cried, covering her ears. "I will not _hear _this, I will not-"

"Do you want me to splash you again?" Charlie threatened. Quinn showed her her tongue. "Well, more importantly, it's going to be Rachel's first day…"

"And?"

"You do know what that implies?" Quinn only glared her confusedly. "The long lasted tradition, that it's actually something the jocks invented last year, of the welcoming slushie".

"Ah" Quinn commented simply, seeing where it was all leading.

"Can't you do something about it?" Charlie asked.

"What could I do?"

"I don't know, stop them. You have influence. You don't let anyone slushie me and I'm not delusional enough to think that no one has ever wanted to do it."

"You're my sister, it's different. It's not like I just say _don't slushie her _and it happens. It takes work".

"Well, can't you _do _that work for Rachel? I don't want her to get slushied. I've heard it's terrible and it's super humiliating".

"I don't know, Char…" Quinn said uncommittedly. Protecting someone of lower social status – and, being the new girl, Rachel was that until proved different – was always a risk for Quinn's own status. It wasn't something she could do whenever she wanted; there was a reason why she only protected Charlie. It wasn't like she approved of any type of bullying, there was just so much she could do about it.

"Please, Quinn."

Quinn sighed. She didn't promise anything.


	3. Chapter 3

**Beginning of Faberry. Like that? Thanks to everyone who is still reading ;)**

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><p>It was almost midnight and Charlie Fabray wasn't sleepy at all. She was going through that neurotic phase every kid goes on the night before going back to school; your sleep schedules are all messed up and, even though you know you have to be up sinfully early, you just can't get to sleep, specially knowing that what awaits for you in the morning is s<em>chool.<em>

She seriously needed something to get distracted with, because the thought of school the next day was making her depressed. Quinn, who was her go-to puppy for when she needed entertainment, was already asleep, and Charlie didn't want to wake her, so her last hope was that Rachel was online.

She checked her facebook, only to realize that just the people that she really didn't want to talk to – people that she didn't even know how she had become their facebook friends – were online.

She was about to settle and finally go to bed when, as if an answer to her prayers, Charlie heard something hit her window. Despite inheriting the Fabray's good looks, her geeky factor usually scared off the boys, so it was highly improbable that there was a guy outside wanting to serenate her. Except if it was some jock, and he had messed up the windows, wanting really Quinn, not her. That was actually possible.

She was completely surprised to see Rachel on her front lawn, waving at her. She opened her window, an incredulous smile playing on her lips. "What are you doing?"

"Let's go for a swim!" Rachel called enthusiastically, jumping up and down.

Charlie shook her head; she was going to ask Rachel if she was drunk, but then she remembered who she was talking to. "Rachel, it's midnight."

"It's our last day of Spring Break, let's have some fun" the brunette insisted, captivatingly. "I don't want to be locked in my room dreading the morning".

Charlie laughed, realizing that that description fitted what she had been doing all night quite well. "I think you meant it's our last night-"

"Just get over here!" Rachel interrupted laughing. Charlie only stared at her. The brunette crossed her arms, pouting adorably.

"Okay, let me just get my bikini" She finally conceded.

"No, I don't have mine! That's not fair" the girl protested vehemently.

"You could have brought yours, you live just around the corner…" Charlie pointed out wisely.

"Come on, Fabray, don't be a wimp. Let's go on our underwear".

The blonde was a little taken aback. "On our underwear?"

"Yes, silly." Rachel paused, observing the hesitant expression in Charlie's face. I'll close my eyes if you want to" she teased, an irresistible naughty smile creeping on her lips

Charlie mock laughed. "I'll be right down".

* * *

><p>The blue light ascending from inside the pool gave a certain magical atribute to the scene, as Charlie stepped on her back yard.<p>

Rachel was a few steps in front of her, glaring the pool. Without any warning, she tugged her top over her head, dropping onto the grass.

The blonde was completely paralyzed, her eyes roaming through every inch of recently exposed skin. She knew she was staring, but she couldn't help herself. The slightly tanned skin, the delicate curve of her back, her dark bra clasped behind her back… it was like visual poetry and Charlie was absolutely mesmerized by it.

Rachel looked over her shoulder and smiled softly. If she had noticed that the blonde was staring at her weirdly, she didn't let out. "Come on, Char, don't be shy", she muttered temptatively.

But Charlie barely could breathe, let alone move. Rachel unbuttoned her jeans, and like silk, they slid down her legs, before she kicked them away. It was only when Rachel advanced in the pool's direction that Charlie realized she was supposed to be doing something and, clumsily, took her clothes off.

Rachel dived into the water and Charlie followed her immediately.

When they emerged, they were facing each other, their legs brushing against each other's as they tried to maintain on the surface. Rachel's thick, dark eyelashes blinked and Charlie could feel it, that tug at her stomach, the one that had been bothering her for a few days now, that she first thought it had been something she had ate, until she realized she only felt it when she was around Rachel. The silence was not uncomfortable, it was somehow revealing of the closeness that the two had created in just a week.

"You are so beautiful, Charlie" Rachel mumbled, and the blonde felt as if her stomach was going to rip open, because the tug kept growning and growing.

"Thanks" she replied, blushing intensely. She never knew how to deal with compliments; that was more of Quinn's area.

Rachel swam around her, as a hunter circles their prey. Irrationally, Charlie started feeling nervous.

"I wished that we could stay like this, like we've been these days" Rachel said, with a dreamy tone as her eyes flickered irresistibly. "Just the two of us".

Charlie couldn't do anything but to follow the brunette with her eyes.

The smile that Rachel gave her melted the blonde inside, and she found herself returning it cheekily. "You're going to get me in _sooo_ much trouble" she all but whispered, as she shook her head helplessly.

She didn't know just _how much _that statement was going to be true. She also didn't know that she was already in trouble, because it only took Rachel to glare her in the eye for Charlie to feel her heart fall into her stomach.

* * *

><p>Quinn Fabray didn't think of herself as a hormone driven teenager. She was very much in control of herself. The same she couldn't say about the people surrounding her.<p>

The current heat wave that Lima had been a target of seemed to make everyone's hormones go wild, and that was pretty obvious on their first day back to school.

Santana was going insane with her teenage problems and Quinn swore that if she heard her complain about her fat ass once more she would explode. All the cheerleader had done that first day of school was yap and yap about her problems, and the numerous guys she had met through Spring Break. It got quite tiring after hearing the stories over and over again.

Finn Hudson kept following Quinn around with a sad abandoned puppy face begging to her to carry her books, so Quinn let him do so, just so that she didn't have to hear him again. He seemed to be convinced that they had something going on between them, and she didn't know how else to make him see that they did _not_; he had only took her to a damn movie.

Noah Puckerman had told Quinn she looked good, which would have been sweet, if he hadn't been staring at her boobs throughout the entire time. But this was the way Puck was the entire year; it wasn't much to do with the heat wave.

So, McKinley was still the same hormonal teenage driven ruled place and it was, kind of, good to be back to where she belonged.

With all these distractions, Quinn had failed to remember her sister's request about trying to stop Rachel's welcoming slushie and she only remembered about it when she, in fact, saw Karofsky, the 6'2 gorilla with a football jacket, advancing in Charlie and Rachel's direction with a blueberry (how ironic) flavored slushie on his hand.

"Shit" the profanity escaped her lips even before she could stop it; Santana looked at her half startled, half pleased, - it wasn't everyday that you heard Quinn Fabray swear - but the blonde didn't have time to offer any explanations as she flew down the hall.

"Karofsky, don't you dare-" Quinn started warning, but it was too late, he was already on the middle of the movement. Without even thinking twice, Quinn jumped in front of the slushie, taking Rachel out of the way but, consequently, putting herself right in her place.

Her horrified yelp echoed through the halls, as everyone fell into a stunned silence. It was obvious that everyone was anticipating the explosioin to happen, but Quinn was a little too busy for that at the moment.

_Ice… dripping…everywhere_. Her eyes burned, every inch of her skin stung; it was the most awful experience that Quinn had ever tried. It was definitely _not_ fun.

At the end of the hall, Quinn heard Santana's voice. "You're dead, now, Karofsky!" and an onstream of spanish words following, and the fuss which QUinn figured it was people trying to stop the cheerleader from attacking the football player. She could only imagine what was happening, because she could not, for the life of her, open her eyes.

Rachel looked absolutely shocked, a gap between her lips, eyes shifting between Karofsky and Quinn, with her purple stained Cheerio outfit and an horrified look on her face.

Slowly, between clenched teeth, Quinn finally spoke. "I'm. Going. To. Kill. You".

"I didn't- It wasn't- It was for her, not you. Quinn, it was an accident, you've got to believe me" if Karofsky found the fact that he was completely terrified of a blonde cheerleader humiliating, he was certainly more scared of her than the consequences of the public humiliation.

Before anything else could happen, Charlie ushered Quinn toward the nearest bathroom, afraid of what her sister might do to Karofsky once she got over the initial shock. "Oh my God, Quinn, are you okay?" Once they were in privacy Charlie asked, feeling uncontrollably guility for what had happened to her sister.

"This is the most awful feeling in the world!" Quinn cried, as she tried to remove slushie from her eyes; it stung so bad she was crying. She barely noticed Rachel was right behind Charlie, still in utter shock, paralyzed, without knowing what to do.

"Do you have change of clothes?" Charlie asked.

"Do I look like I have a change of clothes for the eventuality of me getting slushied?" Quinn snapped, irrationally, because she knew this wasn't her sister's fault, she was just trying to help. But then again, this was a lot of Charlie's fault. She had been the one who had begged Quinn to protect Rachel, and how had that turned out? Deep bellow, Quinn knew that it wasn't all Charlie's fault, because she could have said no, if she wanted to – she had never protected any other of Charlie's friend – but she hadn't because… she actually didn't want it to happen to Rachel. How mortifying would it be to be slushied on the first day on a new school, on a new town, on a new state? This was hard enough for her as it was. Plus… Rachel had this strange quality - Quinn couldn't quite figure out what it was - that made the blonde care about her.

"Calm down, Q, I'll drive home and get you come clothes. Rachel, can you stay here with her? Help her get cleaned?"

Rachel nodded promptly, anxious to be some kind of help.

"Okay, I'll be back in ten" Charlie said, already walking to the bathroom's door.

"Charlie!" Quinn called, before her twin disappeared.

"What?"

"Underwear. Get me underwear" Quinn requested, grimacing.

"Really?" Charlie asked, her expression quite similar to her twin's.

"Yes".

"Okay, I'll be back in five".

* * *

><p>Quinn had repeatedly insisted that Rachel would get to class, but the brunette was adamant about staying with her. She made her sit on chair against the sink, leaning her head backwards so that she could help her cleaning off the slushie.<p>

It was slightly awkward between them; they hadn't really ever been alone together. Despite everything, Rachel carefully removed the slushie with a wet tissue. She gently wiped Quinn's closed eyes, because she knew it was what was bothering the blonde the most. She still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Quinn had jumped in front of a slushie to save her; she had been quite sure that Quinn didn't really like her. Right now, what she had done, felt a lot like saving her life.

Rachel spoke softly. "Does it still burn?"

Quinn opened her eyes and found herself a little overwhelmed. She was staring directly into Rachel's eyes, that warm chocolate tone that was usually directed at her sister, not her. She had observed that caring way how Rachel glared Charlotte, but she figured it was just meant for her. Apparently, it wasn't.

She didn't know why she felt so uncomfortable; looking at someone's eyes never felt so intimate. The tug at Quinn's stomach was completely unexpected and just plain weird.

"Not so much, anymore" Quinn managed to answer, as she tried looking anywhere else – how pathetic was she?, she couldn't even look her in the eye.

"Good" it was almost a whisper to herself, but Quinn heard it because they were so close to each other. Rachel's mouth was hovering bellow her head. "Why did you do that?"

"Sorry?" _those damn eyes._

"Why did you jump in front of the slushie?" Rachel asked, suddenly halting.

Quinn blinked. "He was going to throw it at you" she stated.

"So you were trying to save me?" Rachel asked. Although her voice was neutral, there was a flicker of emotion on her eyes. _Those damn eyes._

Quinn blushed profoundly. She didn't even know why, but she couldn't help it. Why didn't Rachel just look away, give her a break? She could certainly see that Quinn was very uncomfortable with her closeness. Her heart was racing, her palms were growing sweaty, her entire body was out of control. It was absolutely weird. She'd never been scared of physical contact, before. But it was also true that no one had ever dared to stand so close to her, without knowing her pretty well. "I guess… It's a stupid tradition here in McKinley, and I hate it, so…" _I didn't do it because it was you_, Quinn was trying to imply, although not true, and Rachel nodded, getting the message.

"Is it really bad?"

"What?"

"Getting slushied".

Quinn took a moment to decide between acting brave or telling the truth. "It feels like a million of needles on your skin".

Rachel grimaced. "I'm really, really sorry, Quinn".

Quinn licked her lips and looked away. "It wasn't your fault".

"It kind of was, yes".

"It's that dumbass Karofsky's fault. You can bet he's going to have what he deserves, that I promise".

"I don't want you to get in trouble, though" Rachel said, as she resumed wiping Quinn's face. The blonde fought against closing her eyes. Rachel's touch was very, very… gentle. It felt really good.

"Don't worry about that".

"Quinn?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you".

* * *

><p>On the upper side, Quinn felt fresh during the entire day, while everyone else was sweating like pigs. When she got home and finally took a shower, she still found little bits of ice in the most incredible places.<p>

Quinn had found Karofsky at lunch, and the huge gorilla, had the decency of cringing and looking thoroughly scared as soon as he saw her walking in his direction.

"I already said I was sorry, it wasn't meant for you! Santana has already kicked me ass! I'm really, really sorry!".

Quinn pointed her index at him in a threatening way. "If you ever pull one of those again, you bet your sorry ass you'll be sorry" Karofsky blinked, nodding quickly. Quinn was going to walk away but she halted, hesitating. "And, the new girl, Berry… stay away from her".

He nodded again and, with a last murdering glare, Quinn turned on her heels and left the cafeteria, everyone staring at her as she did so. On her way out, she noticed Charlie and Rachel, sitting next to each other. She sighed, shaking her head. Now she had two helpless lambs to protect. _Just great._


	4. Chapter 4

**To answer some people's doubts: yes, this is a Faberry fic, Faberry is endgame. Thanks for all the alerts, favorites, reviews and simply for reading, I really appreciate it ;)  
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* * *

><p>"Oh, my" Charlie cried in surprise, as she looked through the kitchen's window to the Fabray's front law.<p>

It was Saturday morning, which meant Saturday's breakfast that meant eggs and, more importantly, all you can eat bacon. It was the only thing that got both Quinn and Charlie out of their beds before 11 am. It was her mother's trick; the smell of bacon wandered to both their rooms in the morning. It was better than putting loud music on.

Quinn was already on her working out outfit, while Charlie was most definitely not going to join her that time and still was on her pijamas.

"What's up?" Quinn asked absent-mindedly, her mouth full of eggs and bacon, very un-lady like.

"Quinn, manners" Judy reprimanded her, as she cherished her morning coffee before her book meeting.

"Rachel" Charlie responded simply and, in cue, the front door bell rang and Charlie ran out to get it. From the kitchen table, Quinn heard Rachel's voice greeting Charlie and then a quick conversation occurring between them, even though Quinn couldn't exactly make out what they were saying.

Charlie reappeared moments later. "She wants to talk to you".

Quinn raised her eyes, confusedly. "Me?"

"Yep. Go on, she would come in, but she has to get to her first ballet lesson".

Quinn reluctantly left her plate and hurried to the front door, where Rachel waited for her… with a huge bask.

"Rachel" Quinn's surprise was evident her tone, as her eyes dropped curiously to the bask that the brunette held in front of her body.

Rachel offered one of her big warm smiles. Quinn wondered if it hurt smiling like that all the time. Rachel didn't seem to mind. "Hi, I just wanted to stop by to thank you once again for what you did the other day and give you this" she handed her the basket with an expectant expression which was almost scary for Quinn.

"What's this?" Quinn frowned, taking it out of her hands.

"Chocolate chip cookies, I baked them myself" Rachel announce with a cute tilt of her head, an obvious proud tone coloring her voice.

_Wow, _that was certainly nice of Rachel. Who gave thank you baskets of cookies on these days, anyway? "They're still warm" Quinn noted, with a cock of her eyebrow.

"I usually wake up early so it wasn't a big deal…" Rachel shrugged nonchalantly. Quinn was still frowning and that made her a little anxious. "What's wrong?"

Quinn raised her gaze to her, softening her expression. She didn't know how to say it, but she felt like she owed Rachel the truth. "This is really nice, and all… but…"

"But?" Rachel's expression fell as she tried to understand what was wrong.

"I don't like chocolate" Quinn stated, apologetically. "Sorry. Charlotte loves it, though, so I can give them to her. You went through all this trouble…"

Rachel scratched her forehead visibly disappointed, shaking her head slowly. "It was for you, though."

"Well, the intention is all that matters, right?" Quinn tried to comfort her. "So thank you, Rachel".

* * *

><p>Dinner at the Fabray's was always a very tense occasion. It was obvious that Russell Fabray's presence was the main cause of it; his daughters always seemed to tip toe around him. It didn't take much to set him off and the last thing they wanted was to be the cause of it.<p>

They always started by saying a quick prayer, before eating. Then, they ate in silenced, except when Russell went around the table asking how everyone's day had been. Charlie and Quinn always kept it short: they would talk about school and academics, basically, not developing and keeping to themselves what had happened out of school. Judy usually contributed with the latest gossip of neighborhood and with her book/charity association/church meetings stories; it was her only occupation, during the day, but that didn't seem to bother her at all. Both Charlie and Quinn couldn't understand how she was content with doing nothing; with being _dependent_. Then it was Russell's moment and he usually yapped about work and the people he worked with and despised.

All in all, dinner was not a warm, family bonding experience at the Fabray's. It was basically the only moment that the twins were forced to share with Russell, and they both wanted to keep it that way.

"So, Charlotte" Russell started, and the younger of the twins looked up expectantly. "I drove past you on my way home today".

Quinn glared her sister from the corner of her eye and she saw how Charlie seemed to become rigid, as if she was already expecting something unpleasant to happen. She tried to keep her cool. "Is that so, daddy?"

"I saw you with a girl. I don't think I have ever seen her and, in a town like Lima, that's saying something" he laughed humorlessly and no one joined him. It was pretty clear to both twins that he already had figured who the girl was: he had never seen her before, and there was only one family that had moved to the town recently; he just wanted to hear it from Charlie's mouth. "Who was she?"

There was no point in lying. "That was Rachel, dad. Rachel Berry".

"The daughter of those…" he wasn't able to finish - the word was implied -, his expression was pure disgust, making Charlie shudder.

"Yes" her mumble was almost impossible to hear. Quinn perked up, glaring Charlie intensely, because she wanted her sister to know that she was there for her. Charlie was always very afraid of their dad; Quinn was more daring than she was.

"I don't want you hanging around such influences" Russell decided. "It's unmoral and God knows it's wrong".

"Daddy…" Charlie tried, her voice quivering.

"She's a nice girl, dad" Quinn cut in. It wasn't unusual for Russell and her to butt heads from time to time.

"They're living in sin, and I don't want my daughter to be part of it" Russell said, sternly, his fist colliding with the table. "From now on, Charlotte, you'll not spend time with _that _girl. Do you hear me?"

It was crazy, and Quinn knew it. Santana was probably a much worst influence than Rachel could ever be, but yet, coming from a Christian family, Russell had never forbidden her from being friends with her. But what Russell said goes, and contradicting him was pure madness. Over the years, the girls' had discovered that it was much more effective to do things behind his back. He was home only at night, anyway.

* * *

><p>Quinn was naïve if she really believed that Rachel was going to let things go like that. To her defense, she didn't know her that well then but, later on, she would discover that the brunette's persistence and the absolutely loathe for giving up were on of the girl's traits she admired the most.<p>

But the next morning, it was a little overwhelming to find Rachel right there, on the exact same place as she was the morning before – the Fabray's porch – with the exact same basket and expectant smile. Quinn was vaguely reminded of an horror movie.

"Lemon cookies" Rachel explained, as Quinn inquiringly looked to see what the basket contained this time. "Charlie said they were your favorites. I'd never baked them before, but my dads tried them and said they were good, so…"

"Rachel, you shouldn't have…" Quinn shook her head, although there was water growing on her mouth from the scent alone that came from the basket. This was not healthy; sepecially because she was on her way to go for a run. It was highly unproductive. Unless she looked at it as an incentive – yep, definitely an incentive.

"Well, I wanted to thank you".

"You have" Quinn noted.

"Not properly. Words are not enough, nor cookies that you don't even like. Cookies that you like aren't as well, but their closer to it…" Rachel shrugged sheepishly. A thought ran through Quinn's mind; it was something close to _adorable _but she quickly shook that thought away.

"You're going to mess with my diet" Quinn stated. It was a joke and Rachel was ecstatic to hear one coming out of Quinn's mouth.

"Well, I see you running past my house every day, so I wouldn't worry about that" she replied with one of those, super warm, Rachel Berry smiles that did things to Quinn that she couldn't quite explain.

The blonde cleared her throat, forcing her eyes away. "Well, thanks anyway."

* * *

><p>There were rare moments that Quinn felt anti-social, but they usually came in Sunday afternoons when she declined any social plans with her friends and stayed in watching television. It was a sort of escape to the demanding factor of her life; she always needed to look good and act good. Those days were the only time where she could just relax, wear something ugly but comfortable, and don't worry about anything.<p>

Usually, Charlie gladly joined her on those vegetable afternoons, but, that Sunday, Quinn was home alone. Her father was working – as always -, her mother had gone out for tea with Mrs Ripley and Charlie had gone to Mike's house.

Quinn had tried, several times, to push Charlie into dating Mike. He was nice guy, was friends with her _and_ a football player. It couldn't hurt to date someone that was actually popular. But Charlie always shot that idea down, saying that she and Chang were just good friends and that she didn't see it going anywhere else.

To all effects, Quinn was home alone when the front door bell rang.

She groaned in frustration, stretching her legs lazily. She was in her pijamas, she had her hair up in a messy ponytail, she was eating junk food and she _really _didn't feel like dealing with anyone at the moment. But, despite all of that, she dragged herself to the front door.

She peeked through the door hole and immediately started feeling a panic attack creeping over her. On the other side of the door there was a short brunette girl, looking dashing as ever, the absolutely opposite of how Quinn looked at that moment, patiently waiting for her to open the door, her leg bouncing up and down.

She looked at herself in the mirror and quickly tried to compose her messy hair. That wasn't going to get any better, neither were the bags under her eyes, or the large rugby t-shirt she was wearing. There wasn't much she could do at the moment about her looks, so she just decided to get over with it.

"Rachel".

The girl seemed surprised by the brusque greeting, but smile profoundly, her eyes curiously roaming through Quinn's body, before settling on her eyes again. Was she ever not smiling? "Quinn?"

"Yes, it's me. Charlie is not home, she went to Chang's".

"Oh, silly of me coming over without announcing. I was just home alone and I thought Charlie could keep me company…"

"Right" Quinn nodded.

Rachel looked at her for a moment, expectantly, but the blonde only glared her back, weirdly. Finally, what ever it was that Rachel was expecting, she gave up, and shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "Well, I guess…" Rachel started, dropping her eyes. "I'll just go back to my house and leave you to… whatever it was that you were doing. Goodbye, Quinn, I'm sorry to bother you".

The brunette started walking away, but Quinn couldn't ignore the feeling that she had done something wrong.

Quinn had been thinking about Rachel and about the way she acted around her a lot lately. She couldn't understand why she, the most popular girl in school, always felt a little uneasy and weird around her. After many hours of analyzing and thinking about the subject, she had finally come to the conclusion that she was uncomfortable around Rachel because the girl was so expressive and communicative and honest. _That_ was the problem. Quinn was neither of those things; she didn't know how to express her feelings and, most of all, she didn't _want _to. She wasn't used to being around someone as genuine as Rachel – who seemed to wear her emotions on her sleeve, at all times – and that was why she always felt so weird around her.

"Wait, Rachel" Quinn called, hesitating right when Rachel turned around, expectantly. "Would you like- would you like to come in? Charlie must be back soon, you could just stay with… me".

"Really?" Rachel seemed like a little child who had been told Christmas was coming earlier than year. It didn't take much to make her happy, Quinn noticed with a pang of affection that was completely unexpected. Rachel cleared her throat, trying to not seem too eager. "I mean, would that be okay with you?"

"Yes, sure. I was just… watching TV. Would you like to come in?"

"You watch Dexter?" Rachel seemed surprised and Quinn didn't quite understand why. Quinn had sat on the couch in front of the television and Rachel, taking her lead, sat _right_ beside her, legs brushing and everything. Quinn wondered if the girl new the meaning of _personal space _and, specially, why was she so uncomfortable with that.

"Would you like to watch something else?" Quinn asked politely, offering Rachel the control remote. Dexter was her favorite show and she had probably watched every aired episode to date at least twice, but it never got old.

"No, Dexter is fine. I just never imagined… you didn't strike me as the horror, dark comedy type…" Rachel commented.

Quinn glared Rachel curiously by the corner of her eye. "What did I strike you as?"

Rachel blushed slightly. "I don't know… I guess you'd be… the One Three Hill, Gossip Girl type".

"I hate those shows" Quinn commented, simply.

"Well, now I know" Rachel stated. There was a momentarily silenced, which she felt like she should end. "Is that Dexter?"

Quinn snapped her head to her, her expression slightly regretful. "You've never watched it, have you? Here, take the remote, find something you like…"

"No, no" Rachel shook her hands. "I want to watch it. Maybe you could put me up to speed?..."

Rachel had noticed it from the moment she had met them, but it only now properly dawned her how much different the twins were from each other. Charlie was the easy going girl, who could talk for hours, nonsense included. Quinn was this reserved girl that kept quiet unless forced to speak. At least with her she was like that. It was a quality that made her interesting to Rachel's eyes, and that was partly why she was always trying to strike up conversation with her.

Those qualities were evident that afternoon. They kept quiet most of the time, watching TV, until Rachel broke the silence and forced – at least she felt like she was doing that – a conversation. It went on like that for about an hour, until Charlie finally appeared, rescuing – or so it felt like to Rachel – Quinn.

* * *

><p><em>Love. Love is…<em>

"Charlie, I'm bored" Rachel wined. For a moment, the blonde was too mesmerized with the view: Rachel, her chocolate brown eyes shining in her direction, as she crawled over her on her bed. Rachel took Charlie's notebook from her hands and rested it on the bed by their side. For a moment, the blonde thought she wasn't going to kiss her – how stupid of her. Well, not that stupid. Rachel was indeed on top of her, their faces separated by only a few inches of air. "Entertain me".

A smile crept into the blonde's lips. How cute was her? She was like a little puppy. "I have to finish my essay for English tomorrow".

"I can help you! I love to write!" Rachel cried with new vigor, as she raised Charlie's notebook. "What do you have so far? _Love is…", _she raised her eyes amusedly, as she sat back on her haunches, straddling Charlie's waist. "Charlie Fabray, are you in love?"

Charlie's eyes widened. "What? No, that's the assignment. We have to talk about love."

"Well, have you ever been in love, Charlie?" Rachel asked and, for a moment, staring at the brunette, on top of her, Charlie was speechless.

"Uh, no" she managed to answer.

"Then that seems unfair for the people like you and me that have never been in love…"

"You haven't?" Charlie asked, curiously.

"No. Well, I also don't believe that anyone our age has _really_ been in love, I mean, we're seventeen what do we know about _love_?"

"You don't believe in love when you're a teenager?" Charlie asked, prompting her upper body with her elbows.

"No. Do you?"

"I think so. Personally, I've never been in love, but I could see it…" she was suddenly stuttering "uh- happening."

Rachel tilted her head pensively.

Charlie fell into her own thoughts. She imagined herself sitting up and kissing Rachel. Just kissing her; tasting those pretty full lips of hers that were constantly on her mind.

And then, snapping Charlie out of her fantasy, the door to her room opened suddenly and both Charlie and Rachel froze.

"Oh, sorry… I didn't know you were still here" Quinn's shifted between Rachel and Charlie and the compromising position they were on. "I just wanted to know if you used my MAC lipstick".

"I put it on your nightstand" Charlie replied. Without any other word, Quinn turned and left the two alone again.

Rachel covered her face with her hands, half amused, half embarrassed. "What is your sister going to think?"

"Yeah, what _is she _going to think…"

* * *

><p><em>Flashfoward<em>

**Remember when I told you I didn't believe in love at this young age? – R**

_Rachel, I told you, I don't really want to talk to you right now. – C_

**She made me believe it, Char - R**


	5. Chapter 5

**You guys have kept me motivated and that's why I keep updating every day, I don't want to leave you waiting ;) thanks to everyone. **

**I realized that when I said Faberry was endgame I wasn't being very specific xD what I meant is that this is Quinn/Rachel. Next chapter we'll see their relationship growning, I promise.  
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* * *

><p>Rachel couldn't lie and say she was not nervous. As many times as she had performed in front of a live audience there she always experienced anxiety before stepping onto the stage.<p>

She was confident; that she was. She was almost the last person to audition and, from what she had observed, there weren't many that constituted competition to her, but that didn't mean that she didn't feel nervous.

"Rachel Berry" Mr Ryerson called from where he was sitting, on one of the front of rows of the auditorium.

Rachel took a deep breath, two sips of water, before she entered the stage, stopping in front of the mike placed in the middle of it. "Hi, my name is Rachel Berry, and I'll be singing _Taking Chances_".

Mr Ryerson didn't say anything. He just stared at her with an uninterested expression behind his thick glasses.

Rachel licked her lips, as she waited for the song to begin. Her heart was beating out of her chest, the adrenaline always helped her make a performance unforgettable.

She started singing, the song that she knew by heart since she was three years old, her eyes closing as she focused on her voice and on the emotion that never failed to come when she sang classics. She gave it her all, poured her heart out singing.

When she ended, the auditorium fell into a stunned silence and she knew she had, at least, impressed her competition.

When Mr Ryerson finally spoke up, she couldn't say she wasn't taken by surprise. "Mediocre".

"Excuse me?"

"You kept your eyes closed all through the performance, I need some to hold eye contact with the entire audience, draw them in. Plus, it was all over the place, too much emotion going on…"

"Too much emotion?" Rachel asked, confusedly. That had never been used against her before. She thought emotion was always a good thing.

"And the song choice was way too predictable and, let me say, _boooring"_.

Rachel yelped. "Did you just call Celine Dion _boring_?"

"No, I called _you _boring. Thank you for auditioning. Next!".

* * *

><p>Quinn always felt reinvigorated after a good old Cheerio's practice. Sue Sylvester was insane, but she sure did know how to keep a cheerleading squat fit and on their toes. Her practices were always physically draining, but after a shower Quinn always felt relaxed and good about herself.<p>

She was walking through the empty hallways of McKinley after that day's practice, on her way to the parking lot, when she bumped into Rachel. Bumping being the key word, because, both of them convinced that they were alone, turned the same corner on different directions without thinking twice at the same time.

They had a complete frontal crash, making Quinn's bag and Rachel's books fall on the ground. Mumbling apologies, they both kneeled to get their stuff back together, without even noticing who had they bumped to.

It wasn't until Rachel caught a glimpes of Quinn's blonde hair of her that she realized who she was. "Quinn".

"Oh, hi, Rachel. Didn't realize it was you" they both stood up, holding their belongings against their chest, almost like a mechanism defense they had. "What are you doing here so late?".

"I was auditioning for the school's musical, actually" Rachel replied, her face falling momentarily, but there was only so much time she could spend without smiling, Quinn figured. "And you?"

Quinn signaled her bag. "Cheerio practice".

"Oh, right, how silly of me…"

"Do you need a ride?" Quinn asked, unexpectedly.

"Sorry?".

Quinn blushed slightly and averted her eyes. "I know Charlie usually gives you a ride, but she's already home, so… I can give you a ride, if you want to".

Rachel smiled intensely. "That's very sweet of you, Quinn, but I was going to call my dad to pick me up".

"Oh, please, don't be silly, I live right next door to you. Come on, I'll give you a ride" Quinn said and, not so smoothly added. "I'm not _that_ bad of a driver, I promise you". Rachel giggled. "I know you must be traumatized by Charlie, but I guarantee you, her lack ability is not genetic".

"Okay, okay, I believe you."

* * *

><p>Quinn was a very safe driver, she wasn't lying about that. She was the type that, even before she started off the car, checked all the mirrors and if everything was alright. Rachel observed the girl intently as she readjusted her seat. Quinn noticed it, and smiled bashfully, blushing. "I'm a little OCD on this", she confessed.<p>

"Well, if you're going to be OCD in something, this is the best thing to be, right?" Rachel offered and Quinn nodded. "You are really different from your sister".

Quinn froze, her hand on the keys already on the ignition, feeling utterly exposed bellow Rachel's attentive eyes. It felt like the brunette was trying to hack into her soul, read her, discover her secrets.

Rachel noted Quinn's uneasiness and hurried to explain herself. "I mean, I think I've grew grey hairs from her driving. It's a constant feeling of eminent death. That was what I meant" she added coyly, dropping her eyes.

Quinn chuckled. "You don't have to tell me. Charlie inherited my mother's driving."

"Let me guess, you inherited your father's?"

Quinn's jaw tensed. "I guess". She finally started up the car and they both fell into silence as the radio kicked in. _Baby _from Justin Bieber sounded and both girls groaned at the same time. "Maybe a CD?"

"Yeah, I can agree to that".

"You can choose" Quinn offered, eyes on the road, as they exited the school's parking lot.

Rachel rummaged through Quinn's personal collection of CD's and she couldn't help but to feel impressed by it. Since that afternoon they had watched Dexter together, Rachel had understood that Quinn was far more complex that she thought she was. Yes, she was popular and a cheerleader, but that didn't define her. Her CD collection, for example, had nothing like what you'd expect from the Head Cheerleader; it went from classical music, to the 80's rock, to current bands, to artists that Rachel had never heard about.

"This is certainly… diverse" Rachel commented. In that aspect, Quinn and Charlie were similar; Charlie also did have a very eclectic taste in music.

"Yeah, I guess" Quinn shrugged. "I don't have any Broadway musicals though, sorry…"

"I do listen to other things aside from Broadway, Quinn" Rachel said with a silly grin.

"Oh." Quinn looked surprised, but tried to cover it. "Of course you do… Like what?"

"Like…" Rachel raised a CD. "Amy Winehouse".

Quinn nodded. "Good choice".

"I'm not in the mood for it, though. It's great for more intimate… occasions" Rachel had no idea why she had said that; now they were both blushing and looking away. Damn her big mouth. "What about Radiohead?"

"Do you like them?"

"I don't know them very well, I admit it".

"Put them on, then. They're amazing".

* * *

><p>They were parked outside the Berry's house for almost 20 minutes now. Rachel hadn't left the car because Quinn wanted her to listen to every song of the CD, so they stayed in their sits, talking for a little while longer, before the last song ended. Quinn offered the CD to Rachel, so that she could listen to it in her house.<p>

Finally, there was nothing else to do but to say goodbye.

"Thanks Quinn. For the ride, for the CD, for… everything" Rachel said, as she unbuckled her seat belt but made no move to get out the car.

"It's okay, Rachel".

Rachel opened the car's door and stepped outside. But, when she was about to close the door behind her, she seemed to change her mind and turned back to Quinn. "Quinn?"

The blonde looked up. "Yes?"

"The other day, Sunday, it was… okay, wasn't it? I mean, it was fun?"

This was why Quinn was uncomfortable about people who talked about what they were feeling; they expected her to do the same. And she couldn't that. But she didn't want Rachel to think that she didn't enjoy her company – quite the contrary actually – so she nodded painfully. "Humm…. Yeah".

"Look, I'm going to be pretty straight forward with you" Rachel stated, in a deathly serious tone.

Quinn was nervous. "Fair enough…".

"I would like to get to know you. I know I'm always with Charlie, and I love hanging out with her, I don't want that to change at all, and I don't know if you guys have this weird division of things, but I would like to spend some time with you, as well."

Quinn was overwhelmed. How could she just do that? Talk from the heart, without fearing the consequences of it; without fearing being rejected, laughed of. It was admirable but completely incomprehensible for Quinn. "Do you run?"

Rachel seemed confused with the sudden exchange of subject. "Sorry?"

"Do you jog?"

"I usually have my daily dose of exercise on my elliptical, but I guess I could use some fresh air".

"I jog everyday. After school on school days; in the morning on the weekend. If you'd like…" The longer she spoke, Quinn became more and more self-conscious about herself, and she was barely able to finish it. "… you could join me someday".

Rachel's face opened in a big smile. "I would really like that, Quinn".

* * *

><p>Quinn had already regretted having invited Rachel to her daily runs. The brunette hadn't yet taken up on her invitation because she had been too busy, but Quinn knew that once weekend came she was probably going to do it.<p>

It wasn't that she didn't like Rachel. That had already been established. She had jumped in front of a slushie to save her, she had invited her to watch television with her, she had offered her a ride home. It wasn't things that people normally did for people they didn't like, Quinn included. Somehow, with very few interactions, Rachel had a way to make people care about her and Quinn was not indifferent to that charm of hers.

Thinking back, Quinn should have offered her some other plan for them to get to know each other. She had panicked, it was one of those things that nobody that she knew did: they didn't just say _I want to be your friend _and basically asked _Do you want to be my friend? _Of course Rachel wasn't the first person to take interest to know Quinn, they were just usually more discreet about it. They were more _cool. _It was that communicative, genuine side of Rachel again, bothering Quinn for some reason. _People don't just ask to be friends._

But, despite all of that, she _did _want to become Rachel's friend, she just shouldn't have invited to join her on her daily runs.

First of all, it would be awkward. It would be like that afternoon they watched TV together, Rachel asking questions and Quinn answering. It hadn't been bad then, but Quinn feared that Rachel might be running out of questions, and Lord knew that Quinn couldn't give Rachel more than answers. Second of all, and most importantly, her runs were kind of her escape – a moment to herself – and Rachel's tendency to yap about nothing was going to disturb that.

But the invitation had been made and Quinn could not go back with her word, so she was just have to go to deal with being running buddies with Rachel Berry.

"Hey" Charlie greeted, as she entered Quinn's room, sitting on her bed. "What are you doing?"

Quinn bit her lip thoughtfully as she painted her toe nails of an orange tone. "Painting my nails".

"Do you want help?" Charlie offered.

Quinn smirked. "Are you that bored?"

"Give me that foot".

Quinn sat back, leaning against the headboard, resting her foot on Charlie's lap as her sister rolled the bottle of nail polish between her hands. "Why do you paint your toenails, anyway? Nobody sees it".

"It's pretty" Quinn shrugged. "Besides, it's not about other people. It's about me, I know my feet are pretty and, so, I'm happy".

"You should write a book, you know?" Charlie teased. "That stuff is fascinating. How to feel confident and good about yourself under 10 dollars, by Quinn Fabray."

"Actually, that bottle alone cost me 15."

"You really are some piece of work" Charlie laughed, as she shook her head slowly, already painting Quinn's toenails. "Wait" she halted, frowning. "What is that?"

"What?"

Charlie was examining Quinn's ankle with strange intensity. "I hadn't seen that before. You have a birthmark on right there".

"So?"

"I don't" Charlie declared.

"You don't?"

Charlie brought her foot to the top of the bed and showed Quinn her right ankle. "See?"

Quinn frowned. "Well, that's… interesting".

"How did we never notice this in seventeen years?" Charlie asked rhetorically.

"Well, you know what this means now, don't you?" Quinn asked.

"What?"

"Now I can finally declare that I'm the prettier of the two and nobody can point out that we are copies of each other! Ah!"

Charlie giggled, as she resumed painting her sister's nails. "You are ridiculous".

"But pretty".

It was the normal nonsense conversation between two people who knew each other too well and for too long and had nothing to hide from each other; there was no need to filter their words, to keep some things to themselves, to worry about what the other would think. They were the most important people in each other's life; the only ones that they could truly count on.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you… I kind of invited Rachel along for my runs. You don't mind, do you? That I spend some time with her?"

Charlie seemed surprised. "No, of course, I don't mind. Maybe we can all do something together someday."

"Yeah, maybe…"

* * *

><p><em>Flash Forward<em>

**So how was your run with Quinn? – C**

_It was okay. I'm pretty sure that I've embarrassed myself in somehow, but, oh well… - R_

**Quinn said she had fun. And she's hoping you'll join her next time – C**

_She did? Wait, why were you asking her that? She'll probably think I'll made you ask that. As if I didn't look enough desperate to be her friend, already… - R_

**I just wanted to make sure you two had fun. Because you're both very important to me and I want you to get along. – C**

_:) - R_

**:) - C**

_You're important to me as well, Charlie – R_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I realize I'm not giving you guys any specific time for the flashforward texts, but just keep in mind they are not all, necessarily, from the same time. Ones are more far ahead than anothers.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, guys. This chapter it's still Quinn/Rachel. I'm sorry to the anon that expressed her opinion about me concentrating on that pairing (if she would have gone un-anon I could have talked with her privately and maybe understand better what she meant), but I think I've balanced the two relationships until now. In the first chapters, you had C/R and now you have a slow build up of Q/R. I will try and continue with this balance, but, at the end of the day, Faberry is endgame. But I won't forget Charlie, she's going to have an important role on this fic. Just not on this chapter, sorry ;)**

**So, on with the chapter.**

* * *

><p>"Oh, damn it" Charlie muttered, as she and Rachel walked inside the school's cafeteria on lunch period.<p>

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked, absentmindedly.

"The only table left is the one by the jock's side" Charlie sighed.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"It's where the food fights begin, so yes".

"Oh." Rachel replied simply. "What would I do without you, Charlie?"

Charlie smiled, as they helped themselves of some suspicious looking food. "You'd certainly have food in your hair, that's for sure".

Rachel laughed, shaking her head at the silliness of it all.

"Oh, wait, Mike already has a table, we can join him."

"Good".

"So, I've been meaning to ask you about the musical. How's that going, did you get the part you wanted?" Charlie asked, as they both got their trays.

Rachel sucked the inside of her cheeks thoughtfully. "Well, the parts haven't been assigned yet, but I doubt that I'll get it".

"Why?"

"Well… do you know Mr Ryerson?"

"Do I know him? I despise him"

"He's kind of a…" Rachel started. She was too nice to finish the sentence with a word that did proper justice to what the man really was, so Charlie helped her out.

"Creep" she completed, thinking about her experience last year when she decided to audition for the school's production of _Hair_, but had soon gave up on it because Mr Ryerson, indeed, was way too creepy for her to handle.

Rachel chuckled, "That's about it, yes. And… I don't know, I guess he just doesn't like me. From the moment I first auditioned".

"He doesn't like you?"

"He's kind of mean, yes".

"Oh, I'm sorry Rachel. I know from personal experience how Mr Ryerson can be, and there's not much we can about it. He's got his little group of favorites, the ones that end up always taking the lead roles, and he's just an ass to everyone else."

"Well, I guess I'll just try community theatre."

"Yeah, that would be my advice."

* * *

><p><strong>Damn – R<strong>

What's wrong? – C

**I think I'm getting sick – R**

_Oh, that's bad. Just stay in bed through the weekend and rest. It's probably just the stress of moving to another town finally coming down on you – C_

**I already told Quinn I was going to run with her tomorrow morning – R**

_Just reschedule it. Do you want me to talk to her? – C_

**No. I'll be there. Tomorrow morning. No problem – R**

* * *

><p>The day had come, finally. It was Saturday morning and Quinn was stretching and warming up before her daily run. She checked her watch; it wasn't 10 am yet which explained why Rachel wasn't there. Quinn suspected that Rachel was not the type to arrive late. Unless she was trying to make some kind of entrance. But that didn't sound like her.<p>

A few minutes later, she spotted the brunette running in her direction, wearing leggings and a grey sweater that was adorably big on her. "Hey".

"Good morning, Quinn. And what a beautiful morning it is, don't you think?" Rachel said, looking around and taking a deep breath in. She seemed unusually peppy, almost electric. Quinn wondered if she was like that every morning or if it was just a special day. Or if there was something wrong. "Are you ready to start?"

"Hum, I am, but you haven't stretched yet, Rachel" Quinn pointed out. "You don't want to be all sored up tomorrow".

"Oh, of course!" Rachel said enthusiastically and immediately started stretching… or at least, her version of stretching. Quinn had never seen those movements in her life and she doubted that they were this new, innovative way of warming up. Before the girl hurt herself, Quinn decided to step up and help her with it.

"Wait, Rachel, you have to stretch your legs first" Quinn said. Something was not normal with Rachel that morning. She could feel it, it was almost as if she was… drunk. "Are you okay?"

"Am I okay? I'm splendid Quinn, thanks for asking" Rachel replied gleefully, her eyes shining. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, you just seem… forget it" Quinn shook her head, positioning herself behind Rachel and deciding to help her stretch. "Bend down, will you?" Rachel promptly did so, and Quinn pushed her back gently. "Keep your legs straight. Can you touch the ground?... good, just hold it for a moment. Okay, next position".

Quinn walked Rachel through the standard jogging warm up, sometimes having to _mold_ Rachel into the right positions because the brunette had the attention span of a high puppy. It created some awkward moments – at least for Quinn – because it required a lot of touching and, from time to time, their faces would be really close to each other and Rachel would beam and Quinn would feel… something inside her, and she would immediately move away, blushing intensely.

After Rachel was properly stretched, they finally started jogging. Well, at least Quinn was, Rachel was just… frolicking. She constantly stopped to smell the flowers from the neighbor's gardens and sometimes even drag Quinn to do the same.

"Rachel, are you sure you're okay?" Quinn insisted frowning suspiciously as the brunette ran by her side with a big, bright smile.

"I already told you I'm fine, silly" Rachel giggled. "Last night, I was feeling a little sick, but this morning, oh, this morning I feel greatastic!"

"Greatastic?" Quinn repeated, chuckling. Something, certainly, wasn't right.

"I was going to say great, but then realized that fantastic was even better, so I kind of went from there and…" Rachel stopped midsentence, glaring Quinn intensely. "You're smiling".

Quinn frowned, but the soft grin didn't vanish from her lips. "Is that so surprising?"

"I don't think I had ever seen you smile" Rachel confessed in awe, her eyes glued to Quinn's face.

"Well, don't get used to it" Quinn joked, greeting Mr Roberts with a wave as they ran past his house. Rachel didn't notice him.

"No, no, I wouldn't dream of it. I like it".

"You like what?"

"That you don't smile too often. It makes every smile coming from you special, you know? You save them for the true, smile-worthy moments. If you smiled all the time, it wouldn't have so much meaning…"

"If so, what does that make you? You're always smiling" Quinn played along.

"You're right, I'm a smile-slut. I give it up to everyone. I have no standards. One of these days I'm going to get smile-pregnant…"

Quinn laughed, shaking her head.

"And Quinn? You look pretty when you smile".

Quinn blushed, looking away suddenly feeling very exposed bellow those warm, chocolate, deranged brown eyes.

* * *

><p>"Hi, Rachel is acting a little weird so I thought it would be better if we ended our jogging session a little earlier and I brought her back home" Quinn said, as Hiram opened them the door to the Berry's house.<p>

"Hey, daddy." Rachel smiled brightly, and then pursed her lips together, containing her grin. "No! Must save smiles".

Hiram sighed. "I knew antibiotics and coffee weren't a good mix" he said, as he stepped aside to let them in. "Come in, come in. Take her to the living room. You're Quinn right?"

"Yes, Mr Berry" Quinn grasped gently Rachel's arm and directed her to the living room. "Antibiotics and coffee? That actually explains a lot…" she mumbled to Rachel as she helped her sit down on the couch without hurting herself. Through the half an hour that they had been running, Rachel had managed to run into three threes, one street lamp, tripped on a dog – that was just lying on the street, without moving – and almost ran over by a car – luckily, the car was just parking so, if she had collided with it, there wasn't going to be much damage. After that last event, Quinn had decided that Rachel needed to go home and so they were. "Why are you on antibiotics?"

"I was feeling a little sick last night."

"You should have told me, and we could have rescheduled it".

"Why bother if I could just take antibiotics and be good to go?"

"You're high, Rachel" Quinn pointed out, taking a leaf out of the girl's hair.

"No, I'm short" Rachel corrected, not jokingly at all. Quinn smiled fondly, before Mr Berry reappeared on the living room with a glass of water.

"Here, baby, drink this. I'm afraid there's not much we can do, we just have to wait for you… to sober up. Wow, I never thought I was ever going to say this" Hiram scratched his forehead.

Rachel drank the water that her father had brought her. She drank the entire cup, without stopping for a breath, while Quinn and Hiram gazed her concerned that she was going to drown or something.

"Thanks for bringing her home, Rachel has this obsessive sense of duty when she makes plans with someone. She once went to a birthday party of one of her friends burning in fever and she, of course, passed it to every other kid on the party. Moms and Dads were _not_ happy with us…"

"It's such a beautiful day, why be inside doors? It's such a waste. We should get back to our work out, Quinn" Rachel said, already motioning to stand up but both her father and Quinn stopped her by pushing her down to the couch again.

"You should stay, honey, you might hurt yourself."

"Yeah, maybe get some sleep…"

"But… but… I was having fun".

"So was I, but you should sober up before you go outside again."

"Do you promise that we'll do that again?"

Quinn smiled affectionately, holding Rachel's gaze, before she saw how Hiram was looking at her – kind of suspiciously – and she forced her expression blank. "Of course, Rachel".

* * *

><p>The next day, at the same time, Quinn was again out on the street running. She spotted Rachel's room window from afar, and wondered if the girl was still sleeping.<p>

As if reading her thoughts, as soon as she ran past the window, it burst open and Rachel appeared, wearing a bright, but sober, smile.

"Good morning, Quinn".

"Good morning, Rachel" Quinn greeted as she stopped in front of the Berry's lawn, looking up to the brunette, taking the time to stretch her arms. "How are you feeling today?"

"Much better. Though, sick".

"I stopped by yesterday afternoon to make sure you were alright, but your dads told me you were still asleep…"

"That was really nice of you, Quinn. Yes, I crashed pretty hard after you left, Yesterday…" Rachel blushed slightly, remembering what had happened the day before. "I'm really… embarrassed about-"

"Oh, please. It was an accident. There's no need to be embarrassed" Quinn tranquilized her, but she was making an enormous effort not to burst out laughing just thinking about the previous morning.

"Well, I am. I admit, bits are missing in my mind, but I hope I haven't said or done anything worst that I remember".

"It wasn't that bad" Quinn assured her. They stared at each other for a moment, before Rachel spoke again, gesturing the inside of her room.

"Well, I should go and take my _supervised_ dose of antibiotics. My head is killing me".

Quinn nodded. "Okay, okay."

"Can you please tell Charlie that she can visit me if she's feeling extremely bored? I'm going to be in my room the _entire_ day".

"I will, I will" Quinn nodded quickly, before she scrunched up her brow. "Although I think she's going to Tina's house this afternoon to help her with a science project…"

"Oh, well. Thanks Quinn. For yesterday and… you know. Despite everything… I had fun".

Quinn smiled and Rachel registered the gesture with a pang of pride inside her chest. "I did too".

* * *

><p>"I'm so glad you came" Hiram gushed as he took her upstairs. "Rachel's been painfully bored all day long. She's resorted into watching me mown our lawn" his brow scrunched up. "and criticizing the way I do it. She really needs a distraction".<p>

"Is she feeling better?"

Hiram knocked gently on his daughter's door. "Her headache was getting bigger, that's why she went back to her room. But she'll be happy to see you", Hiram turned the door knob and stepped inside the room. "Hey, sweetie, I have a present for you".

"Quinn?" Rachel seemed surprised to see her there, and Quinn hoped it was just because Charlie would be the obvious one to be there and not because she _rather _have Charlie.

"Thanks Mr Berry" Quinn thanked as he closed the door behind himself, leaving the two alone. "I hope it's okay that I stopped by. You got Charlie's text, didn't you?"

"Yes".

"Well, she couldn't come so… I did. I hope that's okay" Quinn rested her bag on the floor and took out a DVD box. "I brought something for us to watch. I tried to choose something we could both appreciate and I found this in Charlie's collection."

"Rocky Horror Picture Show" Rachel recognized the DVD.

"It's a musical _and _kind of a horror movie. Well, it's a satire to horror movies, anyway. It's great".

"I love Rocky".

"I'm glad. Should I?" Quinn gestured the DVD player and Rachel nodded promptly, sitting up on her bed.

She put the DVD on and then hesitated wondering where she should sit. Rachel seemed to notice her hesitation, and tapped the bed by her side. Quinn slowly climbed onto the bed.

They watched the movie in silence. Somewhere along the movie, Rachel rested her head on Quinn's shoulder and the blonde could feel how hot she was. Her fever seemed to be growing, unfortunately. Eventually, Rachel fell asleep.

Quinn stayed until the end of the movie, and a little after that. She observed how peaceful Rachel seemed when she slept; she was beautiful. She barely moved or made any noise; Quinn actually had to lean down and rest her head on her shoulder to make sure she was, you know, breathing and alive.

It was only when Hiram knocked gently on the door, that Quinn realized how late it must be.

"She fell asleep." Quinn whispered and Hiram smiled affectionately, brushing Rachel's hair out of her face. "I should go, I'm going to be late for dinner. Tell her I had to leave, okay?"

"Thanks for stopping by, Quinn. You and your sister have been beyond good to my daughter, and we really appreciate it."

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for keeping me company, Quinn. And I'm sorry I fell asleep – R<strong>

_You're very welcome, Rachel. Are you feeling better? – Q_

**Unfortunately, no. I just woke up and my father took my temperature and it doesn't seem like I'm going to be able to go to school tomorrow – R**

_Well, I hope you get better soon – Q_

**So do I – R**

_As soon as you do we can go for another run together – Q_

**I'd like that – R**

_:) – Q_

**:) – R**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry I wasn't able to update Yesterday. This chapter is mainly around Charlie and her feelings ;) sorry about any mistakes, I'm really tired so I didn't check for any... just wanted to post this before going to bed. next chapter faberry  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"I hate being sick" Rachel wined, her voice hoarse, as she blew her nose and tossed the tissue inside the paper trashcan which was already overflowing with discarded used tissues. She looked terrible; her nose was red from constant friction of tissues, her eyes were swollen, her voice was almost impossible to hear and she had spent the last three days in bed, in pyjamas.<p>

Overall, Rachel Berry was not the definition of _beautiful _at that moment. But, for Charlie Fabray, she still pretty much was it.

"What did I miss? Is everyone okay? Has something scandalous happened?" Rachel interrogated her, as Charlie handed her the antibiotics Leroy had asked her to give her and a cup of water.

"You've only been gone for two days" Charlie chuckled, as the brunette took a sip of the water. She handed her back the glass and the blonde placed it over her nightstand, before circling the bed and crawling to Rachel's side.

"It's seems longer" Rachel complained. "I feel like I'm slowly dying".

"Oh, please, don't be such a drama queen" Charlie rolled her eyes, amusedly, as she nudged her, placing her bag on her lap and taking some things from inside of it. "I brought you History notes from Mike, English notes from Quinn, Science and Spanish notes from yours truly and the rest I couldn't get a hand on, sorry".

"You've been too good, Charlie" Rachel thanked her, squeezing her hand, before reaching for another tissue. "I've just moved here and I'm already falling behind on classes. Great, just what I needed".

"And I've brought you animal crackers".

"Yay!" Rachel managed to cry through her hoarse voice. "Animal crackers".

"I figured you'd like that". Rachel was already opening the bag and greedily stuffing a hand full of crackers into her mouth. "At least it hasn't messed with your appetite, I see".

"I would share it, but I'm afraid that you'll catch my germs and get sick as well and, trust me, I do not wish that to anyone".

"I've been spending every free minute I have in here; if I was to catch your sickness, I would already have" Charlie pointed out.

Rachel halted and, hesitantly, offered Charlie the bag. "Do you want some?"

Charlie smiled affectionately. It felt like stealing a lollypop to a kid. "No, thanks".

Rachel grinned contently, as she continued stuffing her mouth. "Mike and Artie came visiting earlier, but Mike was late for football practice, so they didn't stay for long…"

"That's nice. I wanted to come earlier but my was being a pain in the ass asking me to help her with the preparations for the neighborhood's barbeque".

Something in Rachel's face shined with curiosity, as the brunette sucked the tip of her fingers. "Neighborhood's barbeque?"

"Yeah, it's just a thing they do whenever there's good weather".

"When is it going to be?" Rachel asked.

"I'm not sure, have your dads not- Oh God. I'm so sorry, Rachel" Charlie's expression fell as she realized how insensible she was being, without even noticing. She had a big mouth. Of course the Berry's hadn't been invited; most people didn't even greet them when they walk past them. How stupid of her to bring that up.

Rachel's eyes fell to the bed. "It's alright, Char. It's not your fault. And we're kind of used to thing like that".

"Look, maybe they'll still invite you. They haven't talked to everyone yet…"

"You know they won't and that's- that's okay. We're not blind, Charlie, we see what people think of us here".

"I feel bad-"

"Don't" Rachel stopped her, with a soft smile. "You are amazing, Charlie, I hope you know how much I admire you that, despite your family's beliefs, you seem to be _okay _with everything. I really admire it".

"I don't agree with many things my dad tried to pass on to us, I have my own mind".

"I know, and I admire that about you."

"I'm really sorry-"

"Stop".

Charlie could feel that Rachel was upset by it; but she had already accepted the fact that Lima was a small, closed-minded town and that her dads were always going to be outsiders in it. But she couldn't help but to feel… guilty about it. Her dad, Russell Fabray, was probably the man with most influence on the neighborhood; he was, incidentally, the one that despised the Berry's the most.

Her mind was suddenly pulled away from the entire barbeque issue, as she wondered what her dad would say or do if he knewthat she was a "supporter" of the Berry's _lifestyle, _that she spent so many time with Rachel, that she was so many times at their house and that, for last but not, in any way, least, that she was falling for the girl.

Charlie was caught by surprise. _Falling for Rachel? _It was the first time that she acknowledged it, even to herself. Was that why she felt like_ that_? Like, when she was with Rachel, she never wanted to leave, and when she eventually had to, she couldn't stop thinking about her.

If Charlie was to be honest, she knew it a long time. She probably knew that she was going to fall in love with Rachel from the first moment she met her; who seemed so excited about having a private bathroom?

Rachel noticed Charlie's pensive silenced, and she curled onto her side, examining her expression. She lift her finger and tried to smooth the wrinkles that had created between the blonde girl's eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

"Hum? Nothing".

"Is it something I should worry about?" Rachel asked, carefully.

Charlie dropped her eyes to Rachel's, her expression softening automatically. "No. Definitely not something you should worry about".

* * *

><p>"Hey".<p>

Leroy was hurrying around the kitchen, a couple of pots on the stove. He looked absolutely overwhelmed and completely lost and he only spared a gaze up to see Charlie coming down the stairs from Rachel's room. "Hi, Charlie, I seem to be having… God, just for precaution, would you mind warning the fire squad that I'm attempting to cook?"

Charlie giggled as she advanced inside the kitchen, sitting on the balcony. "I'm guessing Mr H usually does the cooking?"

"Yes, Hiram was locked up at work, so I figured, because she's sick, she should be eating a nice, home cooked meal, and not some pizza – which is our back-up plan for when Hiram can't cook. But I seem to be way over my head."

"Do you want some help?" she asked.

"Can you cook?"

"Not really, my mom cooks every night."

"Well, thank you, anyway. So, did she fell asleep again?"

"Yeah she did".

"Well, its really getting to her, isn't it? She sleeps all day long."

"She said she was feeling slightly better" Charlie shrugged.

"Well, that's her trying to be brave. She's afraid that we start thinking she's just a winy brat… her fever is not coming down, so…"

"That sounds like her…" Charlie paused. "Mr Berry?"

"Leroy" he corrected her with a kind smile.

"Can I ask you something?"

He seemed a little surprised and fearful. "Hum… sure"

"Have you heard about the barbeque that neighborhood is organizing?"

Leroy's expression tensed, but then relaxed as he granted her a sad, comforting smile. "No, I don't believe I have, Charlie".

"Yeah, Rachel told me. Would you- would you like to come? I mean, would you enjoy being invited to it?"

"Well, as you certainly know, we're not really welcome in any of those socializing events, unfortunately. So, no, I wouldn't like to go because it would be as uncomfortable for us than for them. But, yes, an invitation would have been nice, but I'm not going to hold my breath wishing for one, I guarantee you".

Charlie nodded thoughtfully. It was a long shot. But she felt like the Berry's deserve it. They were so nice and welcoming, and it pained her that no one paid them back the favor. Maybe she could do something about it. But she was going to need help.

* * *

><p>"That's crazy" Quinn stated certainly, as she got out of the shower. Her sister was on her bed.<p>

"What, you don't think they deserve it?" Charlie asked.

"No, that's not it. The Berry's are really nice, and it's sad that they go through what they go through here in Lima, but there's not _anything_ we can do about it" Quinn explained, as she opened her closet and roamed through it for something to wear. "They probably even knew that it was going to be like this, when they moved down here. They're probably even _used _to it".

"And that makes it okay?" Charlie asked angrily. Honestly, she expected more of her sister.

Quinn stopped, sighing heavily and scratching her temple. "That's not what I meant, Charlie".

"Then what _did _you mean?"

"I meant that you should accept the fact that we are surrounded by religious people that do _not _approve of their relationship just like I'm sure Mr and Mr Berry already did" Quinn threw a dress over the bed and put some under wear on. "It would be crazy for you even to bring up the subject to dad, you're already not supposed to even be hanging with her. I don't want you to get into any trouble, because nothing good would come out of that".

"You think that I can not convince dad to invite the Berry's to the barbeque?"

"Char, think about it. It's insane."

"You're right, I can't" Charlie admitted, but her tone was nothing of defeated. "But if you'd help me maybe we could have".

"Charlie, give up. I'm not going to let you get yourself into trouble and I'm certainly not going to be any part of it".

Charlie stormed out of her room, without saying another word to her sister. Quinn sighed again. She knew she should have been less harsh to her sister, but she needed her to understand that what she wanted to do was crazy. Her sister sometimes could be a little irrational about the real word: just because she was accepting, and a genuinely good person, didn't mean that everyone else was or that she could stimulate those qualities in people. She had faith in people. Quinn was more realistic; she knew that some people were helpless and there was no hope for them.

* * *

><p><strong>You haven't visited me yet… - R<strong>

_I didn't know you wanted me to visit you – Q_

**It would have been nice… - R**

_I've been kind of busy, and I didn't want to impose myself – Q_

**You can come next time Charlie does – R**

_Okay – Q_

* * *

><p><strong>Are you still up? – R<strong>

_Why are you still up? – Q_

**I slept all day long. You? – R**

_I'm waiting. – Q_

**For what? – R**

_The new Radiohead album. Comes out tonight in the internet – Q_

**Oh. I didn't know. Mind if I keep you company until then? – R**

_Not at all – Q_

**:) – R**

* * *

><p><strong>I don't know, I think he just truly dislikes me for some reason… - R<strong>

_What do you know about Mr Ryerson? – Q_

**Not much – R**

_He's a failed Broadway actor. Broadway was his dream, all his life, but he was never good. He's just bitter – Q_

**Why take it out on me? – R**

_Because you have talent. He's just jealous, because he sees something in you that he never had. – Q_

**:) you've never heard me sing – R**

_Charlie has told me. But anyway, you can't just let him bully you – Q_

**What choice do I have? He doesn't want me on the show… - R**

_You have to stand up to him. He only bullys the ones that he thinks are weak. You have to show him otherwise – Q_

**I don't know, Quinn. Charlie said I should just forget about it – R**

_Well, trust me on this one – Q_

* * *

><p>Charlie Fabray was now completely and absolutely aware of her feelings for one Rachel Berry. She had never thought of herself as <em>gay<em>, but she had certainly never ruled out the possible of her falling in love with a girl and that was exactly what was happening.

For now, she was happy with just keeping her feelings to herself and enjoy Rachel's company and getting to know her. Rachel was hard to figure out; on one side, she gave her those heart melting smiles that made Charlie wonder if she meant something else with them; on the other side, that rant of hers about not believing in love at such young age wasn't encouraging.

She didn't even know with what sexual orientation Rachel identified with – if any. It wasn't okay to assume that she was gay or even bisexual just because she had been raised by two gay men. If anything, it was only comforting for Charlie to know that Rachel wouldn't be disgusted by her if she ever chose to reveal her feelings to her.

Her celebrity crushes weren't much help either. She was obsessed with Barbra Streisand, but it wasn't in a sexual-like manner. Charlie had heard Rachel admit that Megan Fox was absolutely hot, but she had also heard her fangirling over Paul Wesley.

Rachel was a complete enigma; every time she said or did something that might suggest that she _liked _Charlie, it was always overruled by her saying _you're my best friend _or _I'm so glad I have you as a friend. _

Charlie was being careful, trying to preserve her heart and her relationship with Rachel at the same time, because she had never felt that way – she had never even felt remotely interested in anyone before Rachel – and she knew, whatever this was, it had the potential of ending up tragically.

* * *

><p>"Hey! Indiana Jones called and he wants his hat back!".<p>

Quinn turned around to see Santana leaning out of Quinn's bedroom window with a malicious smirk and she heard, from outside, Charlie's response. "Oh, bite me, Santana!".

"Don't tempt me!" the girl cried back, before letting out her little giggle that always reminded Quinn of a witch.

"Leave her alone, San".

"She's so fun to mess with. She's like a helpless version of you" she continued, as she sat over Quinn's bed, making herself comfortable. "You know - extremely unpopular opinion coming up – but if your sister got a new wardrobe and dropped the geeky attitude, she could actually _be _hot".

"Careful, Santana, someone might think you are describing me as your hotness ideal" Quinn teased.

Santana grimaced immediately. "Ugh, no. Just, no".

"I'm just saying…" Quinn joked, waving her hands innocently.

"So, are we going to Puck's party this weekend?" Santana asked, exchanging the subject.

Quinn folded her clothes as she re-organized her closet. "And by that are you asking me if _I'm_ going? Because I know you never lose an opportunity to get extremely drunk and make out with someone?"

Santana glared her. "Really funny. Are you going?"

"I don't know, I'll have to ask my mom about it. I'm not sure if I even want to go, anyway…"

"Ohh, stop being an anti-social brat. You're going to turn into her sister".

"Hey" Quinn cried, pointing her a threatening finger. "Quit talking like that about my sister. She's not anti-social. She's just social… in a different way from us."

Santana laughed. "Do you even hear yourself?"

"It's true, she has friends. She has another idea of having fun, there's nothing wrong about that. Hell, sometimes her idea of fun is way better than ours".

"You mean like what?"

"She doesn't think that going out and getting drunk is the best thing in the world, for once".

"Jesus, Quinn, if you agree with her so much why don't you just join her band of geeks?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying that I understand why she would rather hang out with people like them than with… most of the people we hang out with."

"You're weird" Santana replied, simply. "You talk as if Charlie is better than you because she doesn't hang out with popular people":

"Well, I think she's better than me because she doesn't sell herself for social status".

.


End file.
